Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Reduces Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 431,178 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 15,382 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.15% of Diamondback Energy worth $70,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,863,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 77.0% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 25,567 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,189,000 after purchasing an additional 11,125 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,333 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,003,000 after buying an additional 4,540 shares in the last quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $295,000. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 19,447 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after buying an additional 3,706 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $163.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.09 and a 52-week high of $214.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $159.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. Sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 25.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FANG shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.92.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.